Safe
by AJ Kenobi
Summary: "I don't care what's going on in your life, whether it's big or small—I'm always going to be here for you. You can count on me, Cat…I swear I'll never let you go." Bat.


**A/N:**

**What is this, you may ask? Idk, proof that I'm still alive I guess? Yeah, that.**

**So my hiatus was surprisingly enough refreshing. That is, not to say, I'm completely back, I just got hit with inspiration...yeah. Alright I know I'm boring you so here you go. Read it. Btw this was a Tumblr prompt. Just thought I'd post it here.**

_**Read, Relish, Review.**_

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Hot tears pricked Cat's eyes as she looked around. As if Jade breaking the guitar and smashing the window wasn't bad enough, now nearly the whole apartment was torn apart. For her first dog sitting job, things were going downhill faster than ever.

Blinking rapidly to keep from crying, Cat turned to look at Beck—she had asked him, along with Robbie, to come over to the apartment to try and help fix things—not that her plan had worked out so well.

"Everything is ruined!" She told him, her voice shaking as she gestured to the broken glass on the floor. "Mr. Gibbons is gonna kill me…"

"Cat, don't cry." Beck said gently, giving the redhead pat on the back. To be honest he wanted to hug her, stroke her hair and whisper that everything was going to be okay…but with his ex-girlfriend in the room, he didn't dare.

"Look, when Mr. Gibbons comes inside, we'll just explain everything that happened, and—"

Beck's sentence was cut short as the ground began to shake—slowly at first, but then it eventually picked up and started to rumble violently. And rumbling and shaking in California could only mean one thing—an earthquake.

"What is it?" Cat said, her heart pounding wildly as fear gripped her.

"Earthquake, cover your heads!" Beck yelled, suddenly grabbing Cat and pulling her into a safe corner of the room.

Cat was terrified as everything around them began to fall and break. She whimpered, squeezing her eyes shut as Beck protected her head with one arm and kept a firm grip on her waist with the other, shielding her whole body with his own.

Wanting the horrid nightmare to be over already, her fingers grabbed fistfuls of his flannel shirt as she held onto him for dear life.

It seemed like an _eternity_, but at last the shaking slowed down, and then a few seconds after completely came to a halt. Slowly, Beck lifted his head to survey the damage done to the room. He grimaced as he slowly released Cat from his grip; things were ten times worse than before.

"Is everybody alright?" He asked, his voice shaking as Robbie and Jade came out from their hiding places. From the other side of the room they nodded, but Beck could tell they were still shaken up by the whole ordeal.

Cautious brown eyes met tearful ones as Beck turned to look at Cat. She was crying and shaking, her hands covering her face.

Beck hated seeing her cry, especially in fearful situations. He reached for her hand, squeezing it tightly. "Cat, it's okay. The earthquake is over now."

Cat wiped her eyes as she sniffled. "I-I know. It's fine, I'll be okay."

Beck bit his lip and sighed.

* * *

As expected, silence was heavy in the car as Beck drove Cat home later that night. Mr. Gibbons had seen the mess, but due to the fact he thought everything had gotten broken because of the earthquake, nobody had gotten in trouble. Still, Beck was worried about Cat. She hadn't said a word since the left the apartment, and her eyes were still red from crying.

"Cat…" Beck began as they pulled to a stoplight, searching for the right words to say. "We're almost at your house." He sighed, shaking his head. What could he say? He could tell that something else, and not just the earthquake, was bothering her.

They soon pulled up in front of the Valentine house. Cat grabbed her purse before unbuckling her seatbelt. "Mom's probably been worrying about me. I better hurry inside." She said, barely making eye contact with him.

Before Beck could even say goodnight, Cat had wordlessly exited the car. Beck let out a quick sigh, practically leaping out of the driver's side door, his shoes hitting the pavement hard as he raced to catch up with her.

He sprang forward and grabbed her arm, holding her back just as she reached the porch. "Cat, hold on a second," He said in a firm tone, whirling her around so they were facing each other.

"What?" She asked, her voice barely above a whisper. Beck could sense that she was near tears.

"Tell me what's wrong. You haven't said a thing since we left the apartment. Is something bothering you?"

Cat's lips trembled as she tried to reply with a coherent sentence—however that didn't work, so she just threw her arms around Beck's neck and hugged him tightly as she sobbed into his shirt.

"Shh…" He whispered into her ear, rubbing circles in her back. "Just let it out."

It took Cat a minute or so to stop crying, but Beck didn't mind. Slowly she pulled away and looked into his eyes as she sniffled. "I-I'm sorry," She stammered, feeling embarrassed. "I know I seem like a crybaby, but…it's just that the earthquake was _so_ scary."

"I know it was, even I was scared a bit." He admitted, his hands resting on her waist. "But it's over now. I mean, it's not gonna happen again."

"That's just the problem, Beck." She whispered, swallowing hard. "That was the second time I've been in an earthquake. The first time was when…well…my Dad. He was trying to protect me, just like you did tonight. Only he didn't make it…"

Beck's heart went out to her. Even though they weren't with him every day, at least he still had both of his parents. "Cat, I'm so sorry. I didn't know that."

Cat nodded wordlessly, as if saying 'thank you'. "I was so scared that what happened to Daddy would happen to you." She finally continued. "I didn't want you to die because of me, Beck. You mean way too much to me, and…" A few more tears rolled down her cheeks as she lowered her head.

Beck lightly brushed the tears away with his fingers, tilting her chin up. "Listen to me, kitten. I know what happened to your dad must've been horrible for you…but, I don't want you to worry about me. I don't care what's going on in your life, whether it's big or small—I'm _always_ going to be here for you. You can count on me, Cat…I swear I'll never let you go."

"P-promise?" She asked.

Beck nodded. "Promise."

"Cross your heart?"

"Cross my heart."

With the tiniest of smiles, she held out her pinky finger. "Pinky promise?"

Beck chuckled lightly and wrapped his finger around hers. "Pinky promise, babygirl."

Cat giggled a little, she was beginning to feel like her normal self again. "Thanks, Beck."

"You're welcome, Cat." He replied before pressing his lips to hers.

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**A/N:**

**Review?**

**-AJ-**


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